Columns & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Reporter’s Take: Farmer-owned AAFC?

By Allan Dawson September 2, 2020

In 2019 Canadian farmers grossed almost $37 billion from crop sales. Each started with a seed. That’s why getting farmers to pay more for plant breeding — often referred to as “value creation” — is important. It’s also contentious. Nobody wants to pay more and a lot of farmers worry royalties will enrich seed companies

Columns, Weather, Weather Vane

Forecast: Lots of uncertainty in the skies

Forecast issued Aug. 21, 2020, covering the period from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, 2020

By Daniel Bezte August 28, 2020

Last issue’s forecast didn’t pan out exactly as the weather models figured. As with previous forecasts, the general pattern was fairly accurate, but the timing ended up being off by several days. As we continue into the transition period between summer and fall, we will likely see more difficulties with the weather models trying to

Columns, Editorial

Editor’s Take: The last mile

By Gord Gilmour July 3, 2020

Every year around the world, billions of dollars, euros, yen and yuan are spent on agriculture research. In Canada alone, public funding of “research in support of agriculture,” to quote the federal government, topped $557 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year. That figure may wax and wane with the budgetary vagaries of government, but it’s

Columns, Editorial

The Year in Doggerel: 20-20 Foresight

By John Morriss January 3, 2020

As you may know, in each year’s first edition We follow a time-honoured farm writer’s tradition Of reviewing the past year in doggerel (that’s badly rhymed text) And giving you fearless predictions on what to expect for the next Since she’s in charge, I hesitate to criticize Mother Nature’s decisions But I wish she could

Columns, Other, Weather, Weather Vane

Year in review: How did 2019’s weather measure up?

The short answer is that the year just past was cooler and drier than average

By Daniel Bezte December 31, 2019

As we pass the end of another calendar year, it is time to take a look back at the past year’s weather to see how everything added up. Before I zoom into Manitoba, let’s take a quick look at the global picture. November’s global temperature numbers have just been released and three of the five

Columns, Other, Weather

Bezte: Cool summer, cool fall?

By Daniel Bezte September 7, 2019

Another month has come and gone and in the weather world, summer is slowly coming to an end. That means it’s time to take a look back at the weather over the past month and to summarize what the three key summer months brought us, weather-wise, across the Prairies. Then, as usual, we’ll take our

Columns, Editorial, Farmit Manitoba, Op/Ed, Other

Editor’s Take: Productivity potential

By Gord Gilmour September 6, 2019

A recent agriculture report from the Royal Bank of Canada paints a picture of a sector with big opportunities and big challenges. Farmer 4.0: How the coming skills revolution can transform agriculture is all-in on the concept of farms thriving in the digital age. It paints a picture of autonomous equipment, sensor-driven agronomy and other

Columns, Weather, Weather Vane

Forecast: More showers, then sunny and dry

Forecast issued Monday, July 15, 2019 covering July 17-24, 2019

By Daniel Bezte July 19, 2019

Once again, the weather models did a pretty good job with the forecast. The heat and humidity moved in last weekend as expected and we did see several rounds of thunderstorms move through on Sunday and Monday of last week. This forecast period will begin fairly unsettled as a broad area of low pressure tracks

Columns, Editorial, Farmit Manitoba

Editor’s Take: Canada at a crossroads

By Gord Gilmour July 19, 2019

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada remains either a leader or laggard in the realm of support for its agriculture sector, depending on how one approaches the problem. A free market idealist who favours letting the invisible hand sort it all out might think less support to producers is a

A young foal is a lot like a child. They’re both a wonderful thing and an expensive long-term commitment that requires a lot of work to succeed.

Columns, Livestock

Considerations before breeding a horse

Horse Health: This is not a project that should be simply taken on at an impulse — it requires planning, patience and commitment

By Carol Shwetz January 30, 2019

Foals are adorable and the idea of raising a foal can be tempting – very tempting. The reasons why owners breed a horse is often a combination of emotional gratification, performance expectations and economic gain. Yet none of these outcomes are “for certain” and so the eventual outcome of the foal as it becomes an

Daily Network News

Trump tells farmers that tractor companies should lower prices

Get farmers in on federal water security strategy planning, CFA says

U.S. finalizes biofuel blending quotas for 2026-27, cuts RINS for foreign feedstocks

Columns